August vacation at Smith Mountain Lake, VA

[fredfromnj]

Planning a vacation at smith in August 2020. Looking for general info on the lake, regards to smallmouth, crappie, perch and big bluegill.

Prefer fly rod fishing, but have full compliment of spinning tackle. Best fishing in August? Thank you and good fishing to all.  

[johnr]

August can provide what is likely the hottest white perch bite of the entire year. It’s not uncommon to catch a cooler full of 10” perch in a morning or evening. It is also probably the best daytime bite going on this lake at that time of year.

Catfish can also provide a very good bite, early, late and overnight.

The cats and perch are available everywhere on the lake.

I have caught by biggest shell crackers on beds in late August in this lake, down in the lower end. Hard to find, but they’re around.

I don’t know much about the bass bite at that time of year other than deep brush at night can be good.

Crappie can be tough at that time, as they’ve moved deep into creek channels edges and deep docks.

Stripers are the most fragile at that time, and very vulnerable to anglers. The DGIF recommends you catch your two fish, and then go fish for something else. Mortality is high on released fish. This is a deeply discussed topic around here.

A word of caution... Boat Traffic in August can be absolutely unbearable for anglers. This can make fishing frustrating. Fish early, fish late, be careful at night as there is still plenty of recreational traffic after dark.

[mwardncsu]

John hit about every nail spot on the head. Not much better advice to be had.

[piper]

Jan 28, 2020 15:08:43 GMT -5 fredfromnj said:

Planning a vacation at smith in August 2020. Looking for general info on the lake, regards to smallmouth, crappie, perch and big bluegill.

Prefer fly rod fishing, but have full compliment of spinning tackle. Best fishing in August? Thank you and good fishing to all.  

Where will you be staying?

[31Airborne]

+1 on johnr's advice - summertime fishing on SML can be fabulous. his caution on boat traffic is sage - do not underestimate how crazy this lake can get. you will have 3, maybe 4 hours of relative peace if you launch early in the am. maybe an hour or two in the early evening. the time in between will be dominated by jet skis, cigar boats, turbo-toons, and bowriders. oh, and the wake boats.

if your plan is to fish all day I recommend you look for a place to stay that's back in one of the creeks. many of the rental operations have their own ramps. avoid running the main lake.

[Yam]

Jan 28, 2020 18:42:39 GMT -5 mwardncsu said:

John hit about every nail spot on the head. Not much better advice to be had.

Do the nails in North Carolina have spots on them?

[ghostcomanche©®]

Yam....I think Mike meant that John "was spot on, and hit every nail on the head". However, I have also heard that those from North Carolina have a language all their own sometimes, and have a funny way of saying things.

[bigmanbassers]

Better off night fishing in August. Fly bass or a spinning rod. Bring a topwater Dragonfly lure of some sort for August.